In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the University has cancelled all undergraduate classes Monday and scheduled a series of events throughout the rest of the week to honor the civil rights leader.
Wynne Stuart, associate provost for academic support and classroom management, said the decision to cancel classes was made by the University Calendar Committee, a presidential committee composed of University representatives, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and most of the University’s deans.
African-American Affairs Dean Maurice Apprey said the University will host two events — one Monday and one Wednesday — to recognize King.
“I believe that the purpose [of cancelling classes] was to see if doing so would facilitate discussion about issues on that day,” Apprey said. “But we had a complication ... so many people are going to the inauguration.”
Because of the inauguration, one of the events — a panel discussion called “King and Obama: The Dream, The Promise, The Fulfillment?” has been scheduled for Wednesday. The panel discussion, Apprey said, will be held at the Special Collections Library auditorium from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“It should be an opportunity to discuss gains that have been made ... and what room for improvement might still exist,” Apprey said of the event, which is sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs, the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Equity, the Carter G. Woodson Institute, the University Library and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Also in observance of the holiday, Apprey said the University will host a Martin Luther King Jr. Day multimedia exhibit, also in the Special Collections Library, on Monday from noon to 5 p.m. The exhibit will feature a concert by Black Voices at 3 p.m., Apprey said.
Andre Grier, Black Voices vice president of musical development, said the group plans to perform two songs during the concert. Ryan said the group will sing one spiritual piece and one contemporary piece and noted that both songs will “be tailored towards a hopeful message to commemorate the holiday and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message.”
Elsewhere on Grounds, some University students will not have their classes cancelled in recognition of the holiday. Stuart said the Calendar Committee bases its decision about whether to cancel classes on the importance of a holiday, input from students and the decision of peer schools to cancel or schedule classes. As such, the Calendar Committee’s decision affects the academic calendar of all University graduate and undergraduate schools — with the exception of the Law School, the Medical School and the Darden School.
Jim Ryan, Law School academic associate dean, said the school will still hold classes Monday because “it’s always been [the Law School’s] policy not to recognize any holidays, other than Thanksgiving.” He added that the school’s decision to schedule classes on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and other holidays was made in the interest of students. The Law School must hold a certain number of hours of classes to keep its accreditation from the American Bar Association. If a class is cancelled, then the school’s calendar must be extended in order to make up any missed class time.
Next year, undergraduate students similarly will attend classes on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Stuart explained that the University only cancels class on Martin Luther King Jr. Day “when classes start before the third Monday of January.” While the 2008-09 academic year was affected by this policy, spring semester classes during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years will begin after the third Monday in January, Stuart said.
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